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Another Big Reason to Think Oil Prices Aren't Going Up Soon( m% k; h2 m# X! W! S8 B7 h+ ?
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by Tom Randall
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Oil just had its first weekly decline in a month, breaking a rally in crude prices. A bit of context: After what's happened over the last year, "rally" seems a bit of an overstatement.
5 r* K9 c4 O8 e3 x POil 'Rally'5 {) {4 E8 a9 o+ n$ V- c7 I% I: f
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One big factor that may be driving prices down this week: The U.S. is pumping so much oil it's running out of places to stash it. 9 O& a* d; }2 H" c
Crude oil in storage in the U.S. has jumped to the highest levels in at least 80 years, according to a Bloomberg Industries analysis. The EIA this week reported that U.S. inventories rose 7.7 million barrels to 425.6 million. That's more than 20 percent higher than the five-year average. # |. V$ `8 q6 e% w) f* l
U.S. Oil Inventories Reach 80-Year High B( g, V& X+ c7 n
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The buildup of supply has been "colossal" and is responsible for oil prices falling this week, Thomas Finlon, director of Energy Analytics Group LLC, told Bloomberg News. 8 i% j* z$ s6 `1 O, z' X
Winter weather and refinery outages have contributed to the supply glut. Even when those conditions subside, topped-out inventories and continued production growth may continue to suppress oil prices for the near- and medium-term, according to Bloomberg Industries. 1 k9 c" t) N E
Meanwhile, the U.S. is pumping oil at a faster pace than any time since 1972.
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+ ` Q* o/ l# U h7 p' F8 ?U.S. oil production since 1983. Source: EIA- @; v; g! _ h4 E) U5 U1 [: M
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